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Alpha Beta Gamma’s crusade to strike out Lupus

BY BETH PETEREditor-in-Chief

Bowling got a benevolent twist as Alpha Beta Gamma, the business honor society at County College of Morris, held a fundraiser to knock out Lupus.

At the newly renovated Circle Lanes in Ledgewood, ABG hosted roughly 40 people on Saturday, Feb. 25. It was $20 to attend, which covered bowling and shoe rental, along with providing a $5 credit toward the arcade. The funds will be distributed to the Lupus Foundation of America, according to Devin Gribbon, business administration major at CCM and vice president of ABG.

Moe Rahmatullah, business administration major at CCM and president of ABG, said the group chose this particular cause because of their ties to it through a collaborative fundraiser with Alpha Mu Gamma, the language honor society.

“We helped them out with [a Lupus charity walk], raising $4,000 for Lupus in the process,” Rahmatullah said. “ABG is an honor society with a commitment to philanthropic work and when the opportunity presented itself, we were eager to help out.”

The second Lupus walk is currently in the planning stages, and Rahmatullah said the target goal is $10,000.

“As such, both clubs have committed to independently raise funds before the Walk so that we can hit our more ambitious goal,” Rahmatullah said.

Gribbon organized the event, the main struggle of which she said was amassing enough interested participants.

“Our fundraiser was held Saturday morning at 10 a.m., which is when students usually like to sleep in,” Gribbon said. “By contacting local newspapers, local community colleges, and distributing flyers at local businesses I was able to get a pretty good turn out.”

Rahmatullah agreed that marketing was their biggest struggle, but commended Gribbon for her competence handling their first major event since her appointment as vice president.

“This was mostly her event from beginning to end, from booking to marketing to execution,” Rahmatullah said. “She did a really great job managing things.”

Michael Gosden, exercise science major at CCM, attended the event and said he was impressed with the uniqueness of it.

“The fact that it was an active off-campus event really stood out,” Gosden said. “I feel like most events are walking around and getting information at tables or buying food or things. This one you were buying an experience.”

Gosden, president of the Alpha Kappa Kappa chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, said that he was impressed with the crowd they pulled as well.

“As a student leader, you get an idea of who goes to events but this one had a lot of new faces,” Gosden said. “Devin reached out to the PTK chapter at Passaic County Community College and a lot of them were there.”

While the ultimate goal was to raise money for an important foundation to ABG, Gribbon said she hopes the event can be used as inspiration for others who may be debating organizing something similar.

“I hope this event can inspire others to make a difference not only in their community, but also in the world,” Gribbon said. “A small event like this one can make a difference in someone’s life, and that makes all the hard work worth it.”